Contextual-characteristic data driven sequential federated query methods for distributed systems

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems are disclosed for a sequential federated query for information in a residential, commercial, and/or distributed system. A method of processing a sequential federated query for distributed systems may comprise receiving a sequential federated query; deconstructing the sequential federated query into query elements; identifying a Contextual-Characteristic Data Source (CCDS), a Transactional-Unstructured Data Source (TUDS), and a data organization parameter based on the query elements; generating a CCDS result data set from the CCDS based on the data organization parameter; processing the CCDS result data set to develop a TUDS query based on the data organization parameter; generating a TUDS result data set from the TUDS based on the developed TUDS query and the data organization parameter; generating a final sequential federated query data set based on the TUDS result data set and the data organization parameters; processing a formatted sequential federated query data set based on the processing of the final sequential federated query data set and the data organization parameter; and providing the formatted sequential federated query data set to a management system for action.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to methods ofdata organization, and more specifically to systems and methods forquerying data associated with distributed residential, commercial,and/or industrial systems.

PRIORITY CLAIM

This application claims priority to and benefit from the followingprovisional patent application: U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No.62/354,007 titled “Contextual-Characteristic Data Driven SequentialFederated Query Methods for Distributed Systems” filed on Jun. 23, 2016.The entire contents of the aforementioned patent application areexpressly incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND Description of the Related Art

This application claims priority to and benefit from the followingprovisional patent application: U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No.62/354,007 titled “Contextual-Characteristic Data Driven SequentialFederated Query Methods for Distributed Systems” filed on Jun. 23, 2016.The entire contents of the aforementioned patent applications areexpressly incorporated by reference herein.

The Internet of Things (IoT) promises to interconnect elements togetheron a massive scale. These connected elements may include devices,vehicles, homes, cities, and any other system or collection of systemsthat contain the applicable electronic hardware, software, sensors, andconnectivity that enables these systems to collect and exchange data.Such amalgamation allows this massive amount of data, when collected ona global scale, transform into actionable information. Interactions andcollaborations between systems form in order to fulfill one or morespecific tasks. Such tasks differ according to the context andenvironment of application. For example, tasks may range from sensingand monitoring of an environmental characteristic such as temperature orhumidity of a single room to controlling and optimization of an entirebuilding or facility in order to achieve a larger objective such as anenergy management strategy.

Depending on the application, connected elements include heterogeneousand/or homogenous hardware that facilitate sensing, operation,actuation, data capture, data storage, data processing and/or dataanalytics. Each type of element includes a unique data structure thatdetails a digital representation of the capabilities of the hardwareitself and/or measured parameters. For example, a temperature sensor mayimplement different hardware to facilitate temperature measurements.This hardware may also in turn provide different data parameters,values, and/or operational units, such as temperature measurement units,time format, MAC address, IP address, and/or CPU type data.

Data structure unit, value, and parameter complexities are exacerbatedby storage and organization distributions that may exist situated acrossany number of memory storage locations or hybrid data structures withinmultiple repositories. Further, such data accessibility is complicatedby trying to unify accessibility to data sets that span a large andinconsistent temporal period, storing periodic, state based orunstructured data. Accordingly, with truly massive amounts ofheterogeneous data available through the wide variety of availableconnected elements and their respective data structures, efficiently andeffectively analyzing this voluminous data presents a serious challenge.

SUMMARY

Methods and systems that facilitate processing and executing federatedqueries for identifying and making accessible, actionable, andoperational data associated with or generated by residential,commercial, and/or industrial systems are discussed herein. Efficientand effective data processing gains are realized through a two part,sequential federated query process. In various embodiments, thesequential federated query accesses, filters, processes, translates,queries, and/or performs operations on a Contextual-Characteristic DataSource (CCDS) and a Transactional-Unstructured Data Source (TUDS). ACCDS data organization may include data such as protocols, usage,physical quantities, or topography relationships as well as ontologiesspecific to the application such as data center, buildings, or smartgrid. A TUDS data organization may include data such as a Time SeriesID, a time and date stamp, and/or a parameter value. Further,unstructured or multi-structured data may also be contained within aTUDS.

Methods and systems are disclosed for a sequential federated query forinformation in a residential, commercial, and/or distributed system. Amethod of processing a sequential federated query for distributedsystems may comprise receiving a sequential federated query;deconstructing the sequential federated query into query elements;identifying a Contextual-Characteristic Data Source (CCDS), aTransactional-Unstructured Data Source (TUDS), and a data organizationparameter based on the query elements; generating a CCDS result data setfrom the CCDS based on the data organization parameter; processing theCCDS result data set to develop a TUDS query based on the dataorganization parameter; generating a TUDS result data set from the TUDSbased on the developed TUDS query and the data organization parameter;generating a final sequential federated query data set based on the TUDSresult data set and the data organization parameters; processing aformatted sequential federated query data set based on the processing ofthe final sequential federated query data set and the data organizationparameter; and providing the formatted sequential federated query dataset to a management system for action.

Principles of the disclosure contemplate receiving the sequentialfederated query is initiated from at least one of a user, and a system.Further, receiving the sequential federated query is from at least oneof a database, a user interface, and an application interface.

In some embodiments of the disclosure, the query elements are contextualbased and may comprise data locations or data operations.

In some embodiments of the disclosure, a plurality ofContextual-Characteristic Data Source (CCDS), Transactional-UnstructuredData Source (TUDS), or data organization parameter based on the queryelements are utilized.

Further embodiments of the disclosure contemplate, the CCDS result dataset includes operational anomaly data generated by connected elements.Additionally, a TUDS result set is in time series data, time seriesstate data, time stamp data or, unstructured data format. Further, themanagement system for action may be a Building Management System (BMS).

Principles of the disclosure contemplate a non-transitory computerreadable medium storing sequences of computer-executable instructionsfor processing a sequential federated query for distributed systems, thesequences of computer executable instructions including instructionsthat instruct at least one processor to, receive a sequential federatedquery, deconstruct the sequential federated query into query elements,identify a Contextual-Characteristic Data Source (CCDS), aTransactional-Unstructured Data Source (TUDS), and a data organizationparameter based on the query elements, generate a CCDS result data setfrom the CCDS based on the data organization parameter, process the CCDSresult data set to develop a TUDS query based on the data organizationparameter, generate a TUDS result data set from the TUDS based on thedeveloped TUDS query and the data organization parameter, generate afinal sequential federated query data set based on the TUDS result dataset and the data organization parameters, process a formatted sequentialfederated query data set based on the processing of the final sequentialfederated query data set and the data organization parameter, andprovide the formatted sequential federated query data set to amanagement system for action.

In some embodiments, at least one processor is further configured toreceive the sequential federated query is initiated from at least one ofa user, or a system. Further, at least one processor is furtherconfigured to receive the sequential federated query is from at leastone of a database, a user interface, and an application interface.

In some embodiments, at least one processor is further configured thatthe query elements are contextual based and may comprise data locationsor data operations.

In some embodiments, at least one processor is further configured that aplurality of Contextual-Characteristic Data Source (CCDS),Transactional-Unstructured Data Source (TUDS), or data organizationparameter based on the query elements are utilized.

Principles of the disclosure contemplate, at least one processor isfurther configured that the CCDS result data set includes operationalanomaly data generated by connected elements. Additionally, at least oneprocessor is further configured that the TUDS result set is in timeseries data, time series state data, time stamp data or, unstructureddata format. Further, at least one processor is further configured thatthe management system for action is a Building Management System (BMS).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These accompanying drawings are not intended to be drawn to scale. Inthe drawings, each identical or nearly identical component that isillustrated in various figures is represented by a line numeral. Forpurposes of clarity, not every component may be labeled in everydrawing. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates aspects of a system for executing a sequentialfederated query in accordance with various embodiments of thisdisclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates aspects of heterogeneous hardware connected elementsmay connect to a system for executing a sequential federated query inaccordance with various embodiments of this disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary deployment of heterogeneous hardwareconnected elements of a system providing data for executing a sequentialfederated query in accordance with various embodiments of thisdisclosure;

FIG. 4A illustrates an exemplary data organization construct of a systemproviding data for executing a sequential federated query in accordancewith various embodiments of this disclosure;

FIG. 4B illustrates an exemplary Contextual-Characteristic Data Source(CCDS) data organization construct of a system providing data forexecuting a sequential federated query method in accordance with variousembodiments of this disclosure;

FIG. 4C illustrates an exemplary Transactional-Unstructured Data Source(TUDS) data organization construct of a system providing data forexecuting a sequential federated query in accordance with variousembodiments of this disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of system components for executing asequential federated query in accordance with various embodiments ofthis disclosure;

FIGS. 6A and 6B is a flow diagram illustrating methods executing asequential federated query method in accordance with various embodimentsof this disclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates an example system for data organization andprocessing flow diagram for executing a sequential federated query inaccordance with various embodiments of this disclosure;

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary system providing data for executing asequential federated query method in accordance with various embodimentsof this disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram of a processing system inaccordance with embodiments of this disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram of a processing storage system inaccordance with the processing system of FIG. 9 .

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

This disclosure is not limited in its application to the details ofconstruction and the arrangement of components set forth in thefollowing descriptions or illustrated by the drawings. The disclosure iscapable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carriedout in various ways. In addition, the phraseology and terminology usedherein is for the purpose of descriptions and should not be regarded aslimiting. The use of “including,” “comprising,” “having,” “involving,”and variations herein, are meant to be open-ended, i.e. “including butnot limited to.”

In the emerging world of the Internet of Things (IoT) or more generally,Cyber Physical Systems (CPS), a convergence of multiple technologies isunderway to allow the sensing, actuation, data capture, storage, orprocessing of data from a large array of connected elements. Theseconnected elements may be accessed remotely using existing networkinfrastructure to allow for efficient and effective Machine-to-Machine(M2M) and Human to Machine (H2M) communication. During thiscommunication, as the network of connected elements changes and collectsdata over time, a tremendous amount of data from these connectedelements as well as external sources will be generated, stored, andallow for correlations that have not been possible before. Issuesorganizing, making accessible, analyzing, operating, and acting ondynamic sets of connected elements are exacerbated by the disparateheterogeneous nature of the underlying hardware and correspondingassociated data structures.

Data volume, variety, and velocity are all increasing at a rate wellbeyond the ability for most computational systems to effectively andefficiently organize and analyze past, present, and future data foraction using available methods. A present need exists for the ability toprocess, request, and analyze data from heterogeneous sources from bothconnected elements of a defined system and the truly massive amount ofdata available online, in order to make efficient, effective,operational, and actionable data correlations. It should be appreciatedthe disclosed method and system is not a mere presentation of availabledata, but a method and system which facilitates the organization of datasets directed to the technical problem of searching and correlating vastamounts of data to provide actionable information to a system or userwhich through automation may be acted upon.

Each individual connected element may have different hardwareimplementations that generate different values, units, or parameters.Connected elements may also have characteristics such as protocols,usage, physical quantities, or topography relationships as well ascontextual data specific to the application, such as data center,buildings, or smart grid. While connected elements may containcharacteristics to form a data structure that are similar to otherindividual or group of connected elements, invariably a system willcontain heterogeneous connected elements and associated data structures.Yet, even with similar data characteristics, efficient and effectivequeries which span large physical networks and associatedtransactional-unstructured data related to these across differentconnected elements is a significant challenge. One method to solve thisproblem of data heterogeneity involves the implementation and executionof a method for sequential federated queries.

A sequential federated query allows a query to be processed, and provideactionable, operational results by sequentially querying more than onedata source. Use of a sequential federated query, when the data sourcesare ordered and sequenced solves two distinct issues. The first solutionaddresses the issue of data heterogeneity. A second solution addressesprocessing the large amount of transactional-unstructured data availableto determine an actionable or near real time actionable result orsolution sets.

First, data heterogeneity occurs when connected systems containingdiverse hardware, data structures, and/or characteristics are aggregatedfor a user, cloud platform, and/or another repository. Data structuresand the underlying data may be mismatched. It is necessary to normalizethis heterogeneous data and allow uniform comparisons to be made toother data that originated in other structures or formats.

Second, is the integration of the huge amount oftransactional-unstructured data that may exist as part of a definedsystem or as structured or unstructured data without relation to adefined system. This data may come from the connected elements of amonitored system, or may be from an external source to be analyzed forpotential data correlations. Searching such massive amounts of data,sometimes called “data warehouses” or “data lakes”, in an efficient andeffective way to determine actionable, operational results in real timeor near real time actionable results, is highly desirable. The systemmay also be deployed to facilitate efficiencies and generate actionable,operational results in less time sensitive applications.

Example applications of this method may include, but are not limited to:(1) managing a building HVAC system to assure the comfort of theoccupants, (2) maintenance of an office environmental air quality (whichmay include temperature, humidity, and carbon dioxide content) anddynamically adjusting an office environment according to the prevailingweather conditions, (3) management of a factory floor through monitoringand controlling day to day operations, maintenance, and oversight offacility operations. Commercial embodiments of such applications may beimplemented as a part of a home, building, or industrial automationsystem.

It is to be understood that the system described herein facilitatessignificant flexibility in terms of configuration, features,functionality, and/or end user application and although several examplesare described, a number of alternative embodiment configurations andimplementations are possible.

FIG. 1 illustrates aspects of a system that facilitates generation ofand/or execution of a sequential federated query 100. The system for afederated query method may include one or more processing systems 110and a cloud-computing environment 120. Connected to a cloud-computingenvironment 120 are various building types such as residential,commercial, and/or industrial buildings (140, 150, and 160respectively). Each building may have associated data storage arrays(130 a, 130 b, and 130 n respectively). One or more connected elements(shown in FIG. 2 ) are associated with these buildings, as are networkconnections 180 to allow the exchange of data between parts of thesystem.

There are no limitations implied to the type or number of buildingscomprising a system for a sequential federated query method 100.Embodiments for example, may include a residence 140 and an associateddata storage array 130 a, office buildings 150 and an associated datastorage array 130 b, or industrial installations 160 and an associateddata storage array 130 n. Each building may maintain a networkconnection 180 to the cloud-computing environment 120 and from theconnected elements in each building to each storage array via a networkconnection 180. It should be appreciated various parts of a system for asequential federated query method 100 facilitate co-located or remotestorage or processing solutions. For example, a data storage array 130 afor a residence 140 may be located within the residence 140 itself,outside yet nearby, in the cloud-computing environment 120, and/ordistributed across one or more storage nodes.

In one embodiment of the system illustrated in FIG. 1 , the building 150contains one or more connected elements that perform sensing, actuation,data capture, storage, or processing for the monitoring or management ofthe building 150. Any variety of connected elements may be used tocapture, store, process data, actuate, and/or operate associated devicesover the network connections 180, to the cloud-computing environment120, to other parts of the system. These connected elements may includehardware, modules, and/or sensors.

For example, connected elements, sensors, or hardware may be configuredfor detecting temperature, humidity, ambient light, sound, smoke, carbonmonoxide, carbon dioxide, motion, non-conductive fluids, conductivefluids, vibration, energy, power, voltage, current, or any other desiredcharacteristic, and combination thereof. Connected elements may alsooperate, control, or articulate other connected elements, components,and/or other systems, such as turning on lights, opening a door orwindow, moving window shades, or triggering a door lock. Connectedelements may possess ability to process data from other connectedelements or propagate data from one or more connected elements to one ormore other connected elements. Such hardware processing ability may bein addition to, or as a substitute for, measuring the environmentalparameters through a sensor. Any number of connected elements may bedeployed in any combination to monitor or manage a physical space,including for example a closet, room, residence, commercial building,campus, office, promenade, industrial setting, or any other desiredlocation.

Each building containing a connected element may ultimately connect to acloud-computing environment 120 through a network connection 180. Thisnetwork connection 180 allows access to the cloud-computing environment120 by a variety of devices capable of connecting to such an environmentin either a wired or wireless connection manner. From FIG. 1 , suchdevices may include one or more processing systems 110 capable ofreceiving input from a user or to provide autonomous operation. One ormore associated data storage arrays 130 a, 130 b, 130 n may be utilizedto provide additional data storage capability ofcontextual-characteristic data, transactional-unstructured data, orboth. It should be appreciated a cloud computing environment 120, whileproviding additional communication paths to additional connectedelements or systems, is not required as part of the sequential federatedquery method. Embodiments contemplate self-contained, stand-alone, ordistributed systems.

FIG. 2 illustrates aspects of heterogeneous hardware connected elementsconnected to a system for executing a sequential federated query 200 inaccordance with various embodiments of this disclosure. In oneembodiment, the building 150 contains one or more types of connectedelements 210, 220, 230, 240 for the monitoring or management of thestructure. These connected elements 210, 220, 230, 240 communicate via awired network connection 250 or wireless network connection 260 networksand makes the data structures from each connected element available tothe cloud environment 120 via the network connections 180. The networkconnections 180 may include wired and/or wireless connection types.

For example, such connections may include, but are not limited to, anyphysical cabling method such as category 5 cable, coaxial, fiber,copper, twisted pair, or any other physical media to propagateelectrical signals. Wireless connections may include, but are notlimited to personal area networks (PAN), local area networks (LAN),Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular, global, or space based communicationnetworks. Access between the cloud environment 120 and any other cloudenvironment is possible in other implementations these other cloudenvironments are configured to connect with devices similar to cloudenvironments such as the existing cloud environment 120. It is to beunderstood that the computing devices shown in the figures and discussedherein are intended to be illustrative only and that computing nodes andcloud computing environments may communicate with any type ofcomputerized device over any type of network with addressable or directconnections.

Any variety of connected elements may be used to perform organizing,making accessible, analysis, and operating or sensing, actuation, datacapture, storage, or processing over the network connection 180, to thecloud-computing environment 120, to other parts of the system.Accordingly, these devices may have different data parameters, fields,units, or general overall data structure associated with each device,respectively.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 2 , connected elements 210 may beconnected sensors to measure carbon dioxide for monitoring air qualityof the building 150 and communicate via a wired network connection 250.Connected elements may be both configured to acquire data and controlvarious modules for example a connected sensor to detect ambient lightand an actuator connected element 220 are implemented to change thestate of an occupant light fixture and communicate via a wired networkconnection 250. Connected elements may be connected sensors fortemperature and humidity connected element 230 to monitor environment ofthe building 150 and communicate via a wireless network connection 260.Finally, connected element 240 serves as a connected gateway tocommunicate with the associated connected elements 210, 220, 230, viatheir respective network connections 250, 260, process the datastructures of each, and transmit it to a network connection 180 fortransmission to the cloud environment 120. It should be appreciated acloud computing environment 120, while providing additionalcommunication paths to additional devices or systems, is not required aspart of the sequential federated query method. Other embodimentscontemplate self-contained, stand-alone systems, and/or distributedsystems.

These connected elements need not be geographically localized orlogically grouped in any way to utilize embodiments of this disclosure.Grouping connected elements geographically or logically may allow moreeconomic use. A geographic grouping such as in an apartment, home oroffice building may be accomplished, as well as logically locatingconnected elements by function. One of many logical grouping examplesmay be locating connected end points designed to sense temperature,proximate to an occupied location to detect changes in environment. Itshould be appreciated that the groupings of connected endpoints may alsobe located on a very large geographic scale, even globally. Such globaloperations may be monitored through a network located in any number offacilities around the globe.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary deployment of heterogeneous hardwareconnected elements of a system 300 providing data for executing asequential federated query in accordance with various embodiments ofthis disclosure. A building 310 having (3) floors are illustrated. Floor(1) 312, Floor (2) 314, Floor (3) 316 are contained within the building310. In FIG. 3 , each floor has (3) connected elements of differenttypes. For example, connected elements may be connected sensors tomeasure carbon dioxide 330, 332, 334 for monitoring air quality of thebuilding 310 and communicate via a wired network connection. Connectedelements may be both a connected sensor to detect ambient light and anactuator 340, 342, 344 to change the state of an occupant light fixtureand communicate via a wired network connection. Connected elements maybe connected sensors for temperature and humidity 350, 352, 354 tomonitor environment of the building 310 and communicate via a wirelessnetwork connection.

Given the configuration illustrated in FIG. 3 , each connected elementpossesses a contextual-characterization data structure that includes,but not be limited to, sensor specific information(temperature/humidity, carbon dioxide, and ambient light), geographicinformation (zone, floor, building), and network information (MACaddress, IP address, wired, wireless). Other connected elementinformation may be available as well as information relative to theoperation of the connected element itself. As one example, a status ofonline or offline may be available to further add to the data constructfor each connected element.

Further, each connected element may possess a transactional-unstructureddata structure that includes, hut not limited to, sensor specificinformation (temperature/humidity values, carbon dioxide, and ambientlight in the present example), that is stored on a time, state, orunstructured basis. In this way, each connected element has a historyassociated with it. This history, or “data log”, may be used indetermining trends and/or operational characteristics in time forparticular connected elements. Further, data from combinations ofhistory of various connected elements may analyze for trends and/oroperational characteristics for a particular geographic space, system,and/or group of systems such as a building. Use oftransactional-unstructured data is expected to grow in time and as such,a need for efficient query handling to allow the efficient and effectivequerying of this ever expanding “data lake.”

Methods and systems that facilitate processing and executing federatedqueries for identifying and making accessible, actionable, andoperational data associated with or generated by residential,commercial, and/or industrial systems. Efficient and effective dataprocessing gains are realized through executing a two part, sequentialfederated query. As a result of collecting data in this manner on a widevariety of connected elements, both contextual-characteristic data andtransactional-unstructured data will be available to a user or systemfor analysis, structure, control, and/or connected element operation.This creates a fundamental problem of how to make accessible andefficient and effectively query distinct types of data sources that maybe exceedingly large for action by a user or other management systemwithout the use of the systems described herein.

FIG. 4A illustrates an exemplary data organization construct of a system400 providing data for executing sequential federated queries inaccordance with various embodiments of this disclosure. As illustratedin FIG. 4A, one or more processing systems 110 initiates a sequentialfederated query through a network connection 180. The query is executedin two parts. First, is a query on a Contextual-Characteristic DataSource (CCDS) 410. An example of a CCDS is described in FIG. 4B. Second,the results from the CCDS 410 query are processed and utilized to querya Transactional-Unstructured Data Source (TUDS) 420. An example of aTUDS is described in FIG. 4C. Once processing on the data sources arecompleted, any actionable, operational data results and correspondingactivity is executed in the appropriate physical location, such as abuilding 310. As one example, turning off lights in the North buildingthat have been on for more than three hours after 5 AM without a validoccupancy sensor reading. These two steps streamline searching themassive volumes of data, to determine actionable or operational dataand/or solutions.

Both exemplary CCDS 410 and TUDS 420 are utilized in the disclosedmethod of sequential federated queries to produce an actionable result.Embodiments of this disclose contemplate this data may be stored on asingle data array, a plurality of data arrays, local, remote, cloudbased, or any combination therein.

FIG. 4B illustrates exemplary CCDS 410 organization constructs ofconnected elements associated with a system. It should be appreciatedthat any connected element type in any combination may exist in anygeographic location and include additional information within arespective data structure. These exemplary data organization illustratesexamples of contextual-characteristic data and parameters such asprotocols, usage, physical quantities, or topography relationships aswell as ontologies specific and/or contextual to the application,connected element, or to the location, such as data center, buildings,or smart grid.

FIG. 4C illustrates exemplary TUDS 420 organization constructs ofconnected elements and associated data across a system that facilitatesa sequential federated query. Embodiments of a system for sequentialfederated queries exist where multiple connected elements are providingcontextual-characteristic data and transactional-unstructured data tothe system. It should be appreciated this data may be internal to aparticular system (such as a series of humidity measurements), externalto a system (such as power consumption rates provided by a utilitycompany), or both. Features of the system facilitate solving the issuecreated when each connected element analyzed has associatedtransactional-unstructured data as well as contextual-characteristicdata.

This TUDS 420 include data several types as well. Time series data 430may contain several data fields that possess a Time Series ID, or someunique identifier. Further, each time series data element may have atime and date stamp to identify the data packet to a particular momentin time. Finally, a parameter value may be associated with a time seriesdata element to store one or more data values. Examples of time seriesdata 430 may include measurements from a temperature sensor that overtime may be graphed and plotted to show a visual curve.

Time series state data 440 is similar to time series data 430, howeverinstead of a numeric parameter stored from a sensor, a state may becaptured, such as “on” or “off” from a light sensor. An unlimited numberof states may be captured per sensor, or connected element such as“high”, “medium”, or “low” or any of the multiple states in aHierarchical State Machine (HSM). No limitations are implied with onetype of time series data from another.

Time stamp data 450 may also exist in transactional-unstructured datawhere otherwise unstructured data may have an associated time stamp. Anexample of this data type may be email messages that are time stamped onreceipt. Such transactional-unstructured data may be used in asequential federated query to assist in data correlations for a system.

Unstructured data 460 may exist which may not have an associated time,yet may be enormously useful in a sequential federated query to assistin data correlations, analysis, operations, and/or control for a system.An example of this data type may be data associated with social mediaapplications, images, text files, or other documents without a timestamp. Such transactional-unstructured data may be used in combinationwith contextual-characteristic data to form actionable correlations fora system. It should be appreciated “unstructured data” also includes“multi-structured data.” In other words, several heterogeneous datastructures grouped together despite data structure inconsistencies. Suchdata exists in a wide variety of formats and may reside both intransactional and non-transactional type systems. In general, thesetypes of data refer to information that may not have a defined datamodel or are organized in a defined manner at the time the data iscreated.

It should be appreciated that while each connected element may have anassociated contextual-characteristic data and transactional-unstructureddata structure, the number of data structures connected elements mayvary based on the hardware involved, the particular configuration, orapplication. Once the connected elements data structures are organizedin this way, multi-dimensional sequential federated analysis may beperformed without discrete or in depth knowledge of the physical systemand the associated connected elements. Further, the foregoing are onlyexamples of data and should not be considered limiting in any way.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of system components that organize,make accessible, analyze, operate, and act on data for executing asequential federated query 500 in accordance with various embodiments ofthis disclosure. It is possible for either a user and/or an automatedprocess from a machine to generate and submit a sequential federatedquery. A user or system-initiated query may begin at a processing system110. In other implementations, a machine-initiated process may derivefrom any other process in the system. It should be appreciated themethods of initiation of a sequential federated query are not mutuallyexclusive from each other. In both cases, the sequential federated queryprocessed by the Federated Query Handler 510, and is a structuredfederated query with a particular grammar. In one example, SPARQL or anyother expressive query language may be utilized to provide thestructured query grammar. This grammar structure may include the use ofvarious data sources, operations such as matching or graphing,assignments, aggregating, or sub queries.

Sequential federated queries are received into the Federated QueryHandler 510, illustrated in FIG. 5 as a series of modules including: AQuery Deconstruction (QD) function module 520, a Data SourceIdentification and Processing (DSIP) function module 530, and a ResultTransformation and Filtering (RTF) function module 540. Additionally, aContextual-Characteristic Data Source (CCDS) 410 withcontextual-characteristic data associated with connected elements in astructure, such as a building 310 is present, as well as aTransactional-Unstructured Data Source (TUDS) 420. It should beappreciated both data sources may reside on the same physical device, oracross one or multiple systems.

The Query Decoder (QD) 520 analyzes the sequential federated query anddeconstructs it into query elements. These query elements may includecontextual data or operators, such as the location of any data sourcesto be used, operational parameters for the data, filtering to beperformed on a result, and any output format.

Query elements are processed and utilized by the Data SourceIdentification and Processing (DSIP) function module 530, to analyze thequery elements and perform operations on the translated data sources orquery built from the resulting data based on the deconstructed queryelements. These data sources may include CCDS 410, TUDS 420, and/or acombination of data sources. It should be appreciated, the CCDS 410 isqueried first, the results processed, translated, and utilized toperform the query on the TUDS 420. Due to the divergent data storageparadigms of the CCDS and TUDS, it is necessary to process the queryaccording to the target data source paradigm. DSIP is capable ofgenerating a query in accordance with the targeted storage data format.Data formats include SPARQL, SQL, MongoDB query, and others.

A CCDS query will be executed by the Data Source Identification andProcessing (DSIP) function module 530, and sent 550 to the CCDS 410.Once the query is complete the CCDS result data will be returned 555 tothe Data Source Identification and Processing (DSIP) function module530. Similarly, a TUDS query will be executed by the Data SourceIdentification and Processing (DSIP) function module 530, and sent 560to the TUDS 420. Once the query is complete the TUDS result data will bereturned 565 to the Data Source Identification and Processing (DSIP)function module 530.

Once the data has been queried in the CCDS 410 and TUDS 420, resultsdefined by the query elements are processed and/or filtered andtranslated into a format specified in the initial sequential federatedquery by the Results Transformation and Filtering module 540. Dataformat examples prepared for translation may include CSV, XML, JSON, orRDF. Translated results are transmitted back to the processing system110 for the operation or action in the respective environment, such as abuilding management system in execution within a building 310.

FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B are flow diagrams illustrating methods of executinga sequential federated query 600 in accordance with various embodimentsof this disclosure. As discussed, a sequential federated query isreceived 610 from a user or processing system. This may be a manualaction from a user, an automated action from another processing system,or some combination of both. It should be appreciated that more than onedata source or connected elements may be the target of the sequentialfederated query. This includes both internal system and external datasuch as from a “data warehouse” or “data lake.” It should be appreciatedthe disclosed method does not result in a mere presentation of availabledata, but a method which facilitates the organization of data setsdirected to the technical problem of searching and correlating vastamounts of data to provide actionable information to a system or userwhich through automation may be acted upon.

Once received, the sequential federated query is deconstructed into itscomposite query elements 620. These query elements may include thelocation of any data sources to be used, operational parameters for thedata, as well as any filtering and/or processing to be performed on aresult. Once deconstructed, error checking is performed 625 to determinewhat sequential federated query type is being requested, and if such arequest can be met based on the determined query elements. If the queryelements determined do not allow the current method to proceed, theprocess returns to receiving the sequential federated query 610 inputelements for resubmission and/or restructuring of the sequentialfederated query.

If the query elements are determined to support the type of queryrequested, the method continues by identifying thecontextual-characteristic data source (CCDS), transactional-unstructureddata source (TUDS), and/or any data organization parameters 630.Validation 635 is also performed to verify, in one example, if the datasources currently exist in the form or location specified in thesequential federated query. Further, a determination may be made as tothe types of available data and/or if the sources are appropriate forsuch a query. For example, further logic may be required if a particulartype of contextual-characteristic is present, or of multiple sources oftransactional-unstructured exists.

Once each data source is validated 635, the contextual-characteristicdata set is queried based on the data organizational parameters 640determined from the sequential federated query. This query on thecontextual-characteristic data creates a focused data set that may beapplied to a large amount of data, for example data contained in a TUDS,to produce a refined data set most useful to a system user, such as abuilding administrator, and/or a particular system. This flow continuesfrom FIG. 6A to FIG. 6B 645.

Once the contextual-characteristic query creates a focused data set,this data set is transformed into a transactional-unstructured query650. It should be appreciated the order in which the data sources arequeried is an important aspect to achieve the efficiencies describedherein. This ordered approach of (1) contextual-characteristic sourcequery, followed by (2) transactional-unstructured source query,facilitates the efficient search of large transactional-unstructureddata set by substantially focusing, in step (1), the amount oftransactional-unstructured data required to be queried, in step (2).

From the query results from the transactional-unstructured data set, araw data set is extracted based on the results from the data sources andthe data organization parameters 660. From this raw data set, a refineddata set will be created 670 in a transactional-unstructured format suchas time series data 430, time series state data 440, time stamp data 450or, unstructured data 460. This result data set is then processed and/orfiltered based on the query parameters and transformed to form a finaldata set 680. Data format examples prepared for translation may includeCSV, XML, JSON, or RDF.

This final data set is then validated 685 to determine what actions,operations, or analysis may be taken based on the result data. If theseactions are determined to be valid, they may be transmitted to a user ora management system, such as a building management system to takeautonomous action based on the results from the sequential federatedquery 690. If these actions are determined not to be valid, processingreturns to receiving sequential federated queries 695 for resubmission.

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplar system for data organization andprocessing flow diagram 700 for executing a sequential federated queryin accordance with various embodiments of this disclosure. Embodimentsof this system illustrate a sequential federated query received uponinput from a user or processing system. Creation of the sequentialfederated query may be a manual action from a user, an automated actionfrom another processing system, or some combination of both 701. Asequential federated query may utilize languages such as SPARQL, SQL, orMongoDB, to query any contextual-characteristic data source 751,illustrated in FIG. 7 as “System 1”.

One received, the sequential federated query is deconstructed into itscomposite query elements 702. These query elements may include thelocation of any data sources to be used, such as theContextual-Characteristic Data Source (CCDS) data sources within “System1” 751 or Transactional-Unstructured Data Source (TUDS) data sources,illustrated in FIG. 7 as “System 2” 752. Operational parameters for thedata, as well as any filtering to be performed on a result may also beincluded in the query elements.

A query is performed 703 on the CCDS of “System 1” 751 based on thequery elements deconstructed from the initial sequential federated query702. These contextual-characteristic based results from the CCDS queryperformed on “System 1” are received 704 by the system, processed 705,and translated into a transactional-unstructured data format 706 such asSQL or XQuery, MongoDB, or others.

Now translated in a transactional-unstructured data format 706, theseresults are injected as a query 707 into the TUDS of “System 2” 752.This query may be formatted as SQL, MongoDB, XQuery, or any other querylanguage. This query result is processed 708 by “System 2” 752 and theresult 709 yields data in a transactional-unstructured data format, yetwith reference to the previously specified contextual-characteristicdata only. It is here the efficient and effective data processing gainsare realized through this two part sequential federated query process.Executed in this sequential order, the system facilitates the processingand execution of sequential federated queries for identifying and makingaccessible, actionable, and operational data associated with orgenerated by residential, commercial, and/or industrial systems in anefficient and effective way.

Results from the query into the TUDS of “System 2” 752 are returned tothe system and processed and/or filtered 710 according to the initialsequential federated query parameters. Finally, the results aretranslated into the format requested 711, which may include CSV, XML,JSON, RDF. This format may be used by human and/or machine as a methodto generate actions derived from the resultant data.

FIG. 8 illustrates a working example 800 of the processing steps fromFIG. 7 implementing an industrial building facility and energymanagement system. An industrial building 810 having three distinctbuilding sections illustrated including: a machine shop 820, HVAC Room830, and Office Space 840. Each distinct building section has threeconnected elements of different types, including carbon dioxide sensorconnected elements 850, 852, 854 and connected sensors to detectoccupancy/actuate for lighting 860, 862, 864. Connected elements may beconnected sensors for power measurement 870, 872, 874 to monitor energyconsumption of the sections of the building 810. Such a system also hasa CCDS 880 to provide contextual-characteristic data specifically aboutthe building 810 and the connected elements contained therein. The CCDS880 may be contained within the building 810, be in a remote location,and/or cloud based. Further, a TUDS 890 that may be in a remote locationor cloud based is also connected to the system through a networkconnection to provide transactional-unstructured data to the system.

As one of many examples, a Building Management System (BMS) may beprogrammed by a user to measure and maintain certain levels of airquality. It should be appreciated this may also be accomplished by asystem through the use of a pre-defined rule to measure and maintaincertain level of air quality through sensors, building air handling,and/or HVAC systems. This air quality level may be programmed to varybased on the section of the building monitored. A carbon dioxide levelof 1000 Parts per Million (ppm) may be set as the upper limit for allspaces within the building 810 whenever the particular sections 820,830, 840 of the building are occupied. However, if the entire buildingis unoccupied, the carbon dioxide levels may be allowed to rise to amaximum of 5000 ppm to conserve energy by efficiently running the airhandler system only when people are within the building. If an occupantis detected, there must be an immediate remediation of the carbondioxide levels within acceptable occupational levels. Such a remediationis accomplished by the activation of the air handling system for thebuilding 810.

A single BMS may be responsible for managing several buildings similarto the example building 810. In order to efficiently and effectivelymanage and control all the connected sensors and their associated airhandling and/or HVAC systems in all the connected buildings, as well as,utilize transactional-unstructured data; a sequential federated querycan be utilized. As such the BMS responsible for maintaining air qualityin the building 810 utilizes a sequential federated query provided by athe system to (1) determine occupancy of the building 810 throughprocessing data from the connected sensor to detect occupancy 860, 862,864, (2) determine the current carbon dioxide levels through processingdata from the carbon dioxide sensor connected elements 850, 852, 854,(3) correlate the measured carbon dioxide readings to sets oftransactional-unstructured data, and (4) translate the resulting dataset to execute remediation actions such as activating the air handlingsystem to reduce level of carbon dioxide in those areas where airhandling activation is appropriate.

As the BMS continuously processes such a sequential federated query, theCCDS 880 is queried for data specifically regarding the building 810.Once this data is extracted from the CCDS, it is processed andtranslated into a transactional-unstructured data format, and injectedas a query into the TUDS 890. As a direct result of this querying andprocessing of the CCDS 880 and TUDS 890 in sequence, should the buildingor sections of it be occupied for a given duration, and the carbondioxide levels are above the stated maximum, the BMS will initiateautonomous action to remediate the air quality.

In another example, all connected sensors for power measurement 870,872, 874 of each part of the building 810 are monitored on a periodicbasis. CCDS 880 data exists for these sensors which providescontextual-characteristic data such as sensor is location, and periodicdata is stored with an energy measurement for a given time, in a TUDS890. Should a building operator be tasked to understand powerconsumption data for a period of time and determine the maximum use caseto predict future use, a sequential federated query can be used toretrieve this data efficiently.

In such a case, the building operator will create a sequential federatedquery that specifies connected sensors for power measurement 870, 872,874. Additionally, the user may also specify the CCDS 880 and TUDS 890to be used as well as other parameters such as the particular time frameto be queried and to provide total power consumption numbers as well asfilter on maximum power consumption results.

Such a sequential federated query will query the CCDS 880 for thecontextual-characteristic data for the sensors for power measurement870, 872, 874, and in turn, process and translate that data to query theTUDS 890 for the particular timeframe desired. Once the query on theTUDS 890 is completed and processed and/or filtered as described in theinitial sequential federated query, the result will be returned to theuser for action, in this example, may include planning activities forthe building 810.

In another example, a sequential federated query may be performed todetermine which, if any, connected elements have become inoperable orare otherwise malfunctioning. In such a sequential federated query, auser or system may correlate a comparison of all, or some subset ofconnected elements, such as connected elements 854, 864, 874, in theoffice space 840 of the building 810. While the CCDS 880 data willremain constant if the configuration of connected elements has notchanged, comparison of TUDS 890 data for each connected element 854,864, 874 may fail to produce TUDS 890 data, such as online status ordiscrete temperature/humidity measurements on the periodic basispreviously defined. This type of sequential federated query allows amaintenance operator to determine issues and subsequent actions in atimely fashion for a very large and heterogeneous distribution ofconnected sensors.

In this way manual, autonomous, or near real time autonomous actions,and/or controls may be executed given one or more environmentalconsiderations as determined by contextual-characteristic data typedata. Such environmental considerations are monitored throughheterogeneous connected elements and correlated with large volumes oftransactional-unstructured data. These described systems and methodsfacilitate processing and executing sequential federated queries foridentifying and making accessible, actionable, and operational dataassociated with or generated by residential, commercial, and/orindustrial systems. Efficient and effective data processing gains arerealized through this two part, sequential federated query process.

It should be appreciated the disclosed method and system is not a merepresentation of available data, but a method and system whichfacilitates the organization of data sets directed to the technicalproblem of searching and correlating vast amounts of data to provideactionable information to a system or user which through automation maybe acted upon.

Any processing systems used in various embodiments of this disclosuremay be, for example, processing systems such as those based on IntelPENTIUM-type processor, Motorola PowerPC, Sun UltraSPARC,Hewlett-Packard PA-RISC processors, or any other type of processor.

For example, various embodiments of the disclosure may be implemented asspecialized software executing in a processing system 900 such as thatshown in FIG. 9 . The processing system 900 may include a processor 920connected to one or more memory devices 930, such as a disk drive,memory, or other device for storing data. Memory 930 is typically usedfor storing programs and data during operation of the processing system900. The processing system 900 may also include a storage system 950that provides additional storage capacity. Components of processingsystem 900 may be coupled by an interconnection mechanism 940, which mayinclude one or more busses (e.g., between components that are integratedwithin the same machine) and/or a network (e.g., between components thatreside on separate discrete machines). The interconnection mechanism 940enables communications (e.g., data, instructions) to be exchangedbetween system components of system 900.

Processing system 900 also includes one or more input devices 910, forexample, a keyboard, mouse, trackball, microphone, touch screen, and oneor more output devices 960, for example, a printing device, displayscreen, speaker. In addition, processing system 900 may contain one ormore interfaces (not shown) that connect processing system 900 to acommunication network (in addition or as an alternative to theinterconnection mechanism 940).

The storage system 950, shown in greater detail in FIG. 10 , typicallyincludes a computer readable and writeable nonvolatile recording medium1010 in which signals are stored that define a program to be executed bythe processor or information stored on or in the medium 1010 to beprocessed by the program to perform one or more functions associatedwith embodiments described herein. The medium may, for example, be adisk or flash memory. Typically, in operation, the processor causes datato be read from the nonvolatile recording medium 1010 into anothermemory 1020 that allows for faster access to the information by theprocessor than does the medium 1010. This memory 1020 is typically avolatile, random access memory such as a dynamic random access memory(DRAM) or static memory (SRAM). It may be located in storage system1000, as shown, or in memory system 930. The processor 920 generallymanipulates the data within the integrated circuit memory 930, 1020 andthen copies the data to the medium 1010 after processing is completed. Avariety of mechanisms are known for managing data movement between themedium 1010 and the integrated circuit memory element 930, 1020, and thedisclosure is not limited thereto. The disclosure is not limited to aparticular memory system 930 or storage system 950.

The processing system may include specially programmed, special-purposehardware, for example, an application-specific integrated circuit(ASIC). Aspects of the disclosure may be implemented in software,hardware or firmware, or any combination thereof. Further, such methods,acts, systems, system elements and components thereof may be implementedas part of the processing system described above or as an independentcomponent.

Although processing system 900 is shown by way of example as one type ofprocessing system upon which various aspects of the disclosure may bepracticed, it should be appreciated that aspects of the disclosure arenot limited to being implemented on the processing system as shown inFIG. 10 . Various aspects of the disclosure may be practiced on one ormore computers having a different architecture or components shown inFIG. 10 . Further, where functions or processes of embodiments of thedisclosure are described herein (or in the claims) as being performed ona processor or controller, such description is intended to includesystems that use more than one processor or controller to perform thefunctions.

Processing system 900 may be a processing system that is programmableusing a high-level computer programming language. Processing system 900may be also implemented using specially programmed, special purposehardware. In processing system 900, processor 920 is typically acommercially available processor such as the well-known Pentium classprocessor available from the Intel Corporation. Many other processorsare available. Such a processor usually executes an operating systemwhich may be, for example, the Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT,Windows 2000, Windows ME, Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 10, orprogeny operating systems available from the Microsoft Corporation, MACOS System X, or progeny operating system available from Apple Computer,the Solaris operating system available from Sun Microsystems, UNIX,Linux (any distribution), or progeny operating systems available fromvarious sources. Many other operating systems may be used.

The processor and operating system together define a computer platformfor which application programs in high-level programming languages arewritten. It should be understood that embodiments of the disclosure arenot limited to a particular processing system platform, processor,operating system, or network. In addition, it should be apparent tothose skilled in the art that the present disclosure is not limited to aspecific programming language or processing system. Further, it shouldbe appreciated that other appropriate programming languages and otherappropriate processing systems could also be used.

One or more portions of the processing system may be distributed acrossone or more processing systems coupled to a communications network. Forexample, as discussed above, a processing system that determinesavailable power capacity may be located remotely from a system manager.These processing systems also may be processing system systems. Forexample, various aspects of the disclosure may be distributed among oneor more processing systems configured to provide a service (e.g.,servers) to one or more client computers, or to perform an overall taskas part of a distributed system. For example, various aspects of thedisclosure may be performed on a client-server or multi-tier system thatincludes components distributed among one or more server systems thatperform various functions according to various embodiments of thedisclosure. These components may be executable, intermediate (e.g., IL)or interpreted (e.g., Java) code which communicate over a communicationnetwork (e.g., the Internet) using a communication protocol (e.g.,TCP/IP). For example, one or more database servers may be used to storedevice data, such as expected power draw, that is used in designinglayouts associated with embodiments of the present disclosure.

It should be appreciated that the disclosure is not limited to executingon any particular system or group of systems. In addition, it should beappreciated that the disclosure is not limited to any particulardistributed architecture, network, or communication protocol.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure may be programmed using anobject-oriented programming language, such as SmallTalk, Java, C++, Ada,or C# (C-Sharp). Other object-oriented programming languages may also beused. Alternatively, functional, scripting, and/or logical programminglanguages may be used, such as BASIC, ForTran, COBoL, TCL, or Lua.Various aspects of the disclosure may be implemented in a non-programmedenvironment (e.g., documents created in HTML, XML or other format that,when viewed in a window of a browser program render aspects of agraphical-user interface (GUI) or perform other functions). Variousaspects of the disclosure may be implemented as programmed ornon-programmed elements, or any combination thereof.

Embodiments of a systems and methods described above are generallydescribed for use in relatively large data centers having numerousequipment racks; however, embodiments of the disclosure may also be usedwith smaller data centers and with facilities other than data centers.Some embodiments may also be a very small number of computersdistributed geographically to not resemble a particular architecture.

In embodiments of the present disclosure discussed above, results of theanalysis are described as being provided in real-time. As understood bythose skilled in the art, the use of the term real-time is not meant tosuggest that the results are available immediately, but rather, areavailable quickly giving a designer the ability to try a number ofdifferent designs over a short period of time, such as a matter ofminutes.

Having thus described several aspects of at least one embodiment of thisdisclosure, it is to be appreciated various alterations, modifications,and improvements will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Suchalterations, modifications, and improvements are intended to be part ofthis disclosure, and are intended to be within the spirit and scope ofthe disclosure. Accordingly, the foregoing description and drawings areby way of example only.

1. A method of processing a sequential federated query for distributedsystems, comprising: receiving, at a processor, a sequential federatedquery specifying at least one unstructured data source without relationto a distributed system, and a data organization parameter; generating,at the processor, a contextual result data set related to thedistributed system from a a contextual data source related to thedistributed system based on the data organization parameter; processing,at the processor, the contextual result data set to develop aunstructured data query; generating, at the processor, an unstructureddata result data set from the unstructured data source based on thedeveloped unstructured data query; generating, at the processor, a finalformatted sequential federated query data set based on the unstructureddata result data set validated for use by a management system; andproviding, at the processor, the final formatted sequential federatedquery data set to the management system for action.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein receiving the sequential federated query is initiatedfrom at least one of a user, or a system.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein receiving the sequential federated query is from at least one ofa database, a user interface, and an application interface.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: deconstructing, at the processor,the sequential federated query into query elements, wherein the queryelements are contextual based.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein thequery elements are data locations.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein thequery elements are data operations.
 7. The method of claim 4, wherein aplurality of contextual data sources related to the distributed system,unstructured data sources without relation to a distributed system, ordata organization parameters based on the query elements are utilized.8. The method of claim 1, wherein the contextual result data setincludes operational anomaly data generated by connected elements. 9.The method of claim 1, wherein unstructured data result set is in timeseries data, time series state data, time stamp data or, unstructureddata format.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the management systemfor action is a Building Management System (BMS).
 11. A non-transitorycomputer readable medium storing sequences of computer-executableinstructions for processing a sequential federated query for distributedsystems, the sequences of computer executable instructions includinginstructions that instruct at least one processor to: receive asequential federated query specifying at least one unstructured datasource without relation to a distributed system, and a data organizationparameter; generate a contextual result data set related to thedistributed system from a contextual data source related to thedistributed system based on the data organization parameter; process thecontextual result data set to develop a unstructured data query;generate an unstructured data result data set from the unstructured datasource based on the developed unstructured data query; generate a finalformatted sequential federated query data set based on the unstructureddata result data set validated for use by a management system; andprovide the final formatted sequential federated query data set to themanagement system for action.
 12. (canceled)
 13. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the at least one processoris further configured to receive the sequential federated query is fromat least one of a database, a user interface, and an applicationinterface.
 14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11,further comprising: deconstructing the sequential federated query intoquery elements, the query elements are contextual based.
 15. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the atleast one processor is further configured that the query elements aredata locations.
 16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim14, wherein the at least one processor is further configured that thequery elements are data operations.
 17. The non-transitory computerreadable medium of claim 14, wherein the at least one processor isfurther configured that a plurality of contextual data sources relatedto the distributed system, unstructured data sources without relation toa distributed system, or data organization parameters, based on thequery elements are utilized.
 18. The non-transitory computer readablemedium of claim 11, wherein the at least one processor is furtherconfigured that the contextual result data set includes operationalanomaly data generated by connected elements.
 19. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the at least one processoris further configured that the unstructured data result set is in timeseries data, time series state data, time stamp data or, unstructureddata format.
 20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim11, wherein the at least one processor is further configured that themanagement system for action is a Building Management System (BMS). 21.A system, comprising: one or more computer processors; and a memorycontaining computer program code that, when executed by operation of theone or more computer processors, performs an operation for processing asequential federated query for distributed systems, the operationcomprising: receiving, at a processor, a sequential federated queryspecifying at least one unstructured data source without relation to adistributed system, and a data organization parameter; generating, atthe processor, a contextual result data set related to the distributedsystem from the a contextual data source related to the distributedsystem based on the data organization parameter; processing, at theprocessor, the contextual result data set to develop a unstructured dataquery based on the data organization parameter; generating, at theprocessor, an unstructured data result data set from the unstructureddata source based on the developed unstructured data query; generating,at the processor, a final formatted sequential federated query data setbased on the unstructured data result data set validated for use by amanagement system; and providing, at the processor, the final formattedsequential federated query data set to the management system for action.